With curated multimedia series focused on hard hitting issues such climate change as well as current events, MENASource seeks to explore all facets of life in the region as affected by political, security, economic, and cultural issues.

Of particular focus and interest are the minorities, women, and the youth populations across the region and how they are affected by the changing environments.

The views expressed in MENASource are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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Egypt’s New Constitution: Entrenched Despotism

MENASource
Jun 13, 2025

China’s basing quest in the Gulf: Pipe dream or strategic reality?

While the Gulf remains central to China’s long-term maritime aspirations, its near-term military footprint is likely to stay limited.

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Egypt’s New Constitution: Entrenched Despotism

MENASource
Jun 10, 2025

Why DDR programs are the missing link to Syrian stability

By
Muhsen al-Mustafa

With the end of Western sanctions, Syria faces a rare opportunity to address the imbalances of the post-conflict period.

Middle East
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

Egypt’s New Constitution: Entrenched Despotism

MENASource
Jun 4, 2025

What Lebanon’s municipal election results mean for Hezbollah

By
David Daoud

Municipal election results did not demonstrate the militant group’s dominance over Lebanon’s Shiites, but Hezbollah nevertheless retains popularity.

Elections
Lebanon

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MENASource

Dec 2, 2012

Egypt’s New Constitution: Entrenched Despotism

By Ragab Saad

President Mohamed Morsi’s recent constitutional declaration was a blow to the goals of the revolution; to achieve a real democratic transformation, to establish the rule of law, a separation of powers, and an independent judiciary. In effect, the president declared himself Pharaoh, putting himself above any challenge or opposition. Despite the decree extending the deadline fir Egypt’s draft […]

MENASource

Dec 1, 2012

Will Morsi’s Push for a National Referendum Worsen the Judicial Crisis?

By Nancy Messieh

As hundreds of thousands of President Mohamed Morsi’s supporters gathered in Cairo and Assiut on Saturday, the president announced that Egypt’s draft constitution would be put to a national referendum on December 15, 2012. The referendum will be held in just over two weeks, in the midst of an ongoing struggle between the president and the judiciary.  […]

MENASource

Nov 30, 2012

Egypt’s Economic Plan: Something Old, Something New

By Mohsin Khan

Following weeks of criticism for a lack of transparency in negotiations, Prime Minister Hisham Qandil’s cabinet finally unveiled the economic plan it presented to the IMF outlining the policies the government intends to follow to qualify for a $4.8 billion loan.  In IMF parlance, the document is the ‘Letter of Intent,’ agreed to by IMF […]

MENASource

Nov 30, 2012

An Unclear Path for Egypt’s Judiciary

By Yussef Auf

It’s been twenty two months since the Egyptian revolution was sparked in Tahrir Square. Despite the many achievements and positive results to come out of those 18 days, several crises have accompanied this difficult period in Egypt. Astute observers of current affairs will no doubt be aware of the significant negative repercussions the post-revolutionary period […]

MENASource

Nov 30, 2012

Top News: Egypt Constitution Finalized as Opposition Cries Foul

By Egypt Source

An Islamist-led assembly finalized a new constitution early on Friday aimed at transforming Egypt and paving the way for an end to a crisis that erupted when President Mohamed Morsi gave himself sweeping new powers last week.  

MENASource

Nov 29, 2012

Continued Contradictions in Egypt’s Draft Constitution: A Preliminary Reading

By Nancy Messieh

Not only did the Constituent Assembly rush suddenly into a voting session on Thursday, it also appears to be rushing through the voting process itself, aiming to place the draft constitution on President Mohamed Morsi’s desk by nightfall. The vote is taking place so quickly, that at least on one occasion, Hossam al-Gheriani, Constituent Assembly […]

MENASource

Nov 29, 2012

Tahrir Protesters Find Common Ground in Marginalization

By Basil El Dabh

President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood may have inadvertently accomplished for their opposition what they could not do for themselves in the past year. On Tuesday, members of virtually every revolutionary non-Islamist group filled Tahrir Square participating in a massive demonstration against the president’s constitutional declaration. Today, hundreds continue a sit-in in Tahrir, with […]

MENASource

Nov 29, 2012

Top News: Constituent Assembly Begins Voting on New Constitution

By Egypt Source

For the text of the constitutional draft in Arabic upon which the Constituent Assembly is voting, please click here. The Constituent Assembly began voting on the new constitution on Thursday afternoon, with 85 members present. The assembly will vote on each of the 234 articles one by one, and a majority of 67 members must […]

MENASource

Nov 29, 2012

Problems With Neighbors: Turkey, Iraq, and the Syrian Kurds

With reports of clashes between Kurdish militias and jihadist elements of the Syrian opposition in the ethnically mixed town of Ras al-Ain on the Syrian-Turkish border, the question of how Syria’s Kurdish population will fit into a post-Assad state has been forced to the front. For the past twenty months Syrian opposition forces have challenged […]

Iraq Syria

MENASource

Nov 29, 2012

NATO Partnerships in the Middle East: Time for a New Look

By Richard LeBaron

NATO’s efforts to establish patterns of cooperation with countries in the Middle East and North Africa have not prospered. With the exception of the Libya campaign, the Alliance has not played a significant role in addressing conflicts in the region. NATO has assiduously avoided involvement in the Syria conflict or in countering Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Formal […]

Middle East NATO
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